FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 respectively show exemplary speaker systems generally acceptable for a home theater.
In more detail, FIG. 1 illustrates a surround speaker system THX that has a surround speaker with bipolar characteristics of sound propagation, and FIG. 2 illustrates a Dolby AC-3 (or Dolby Digital) system that has a surround speaker with monopolar characteristics of sound propagation.
The two systems in the above FIGS. 1 and 2 have three speakers in common, i.e., first and second front speakers 1 and 2, and a center speaker 3. A subwoofer 4 is also commonly included in both systems.
They have a difference in the type of surround speakers. Firstly, the surround speaker system of FIG. 1 has left and right surround speakers 5 and 6 that have bipolar characteristics in their sound propagation. However, the surround speaker system of FIG. 2 has left and right surround speakers 8 and 9 that have normal (monopolar) characteristics in their sound propagation In addition, the surround speakers 5 and 6 shown in FIG. 1 are usually set at a height of about 1.5-3 m, and the surround speakers 8 and 9 shown in FIG. 2 are usually set at a height of about 60-80 cm.
In such acoustic systems for a home theater as above, the surround speakers 5 and 6 in FIG. 1 are disposed beside a listener and send their sound forward and rearward therefrom such that the listener may hear indirect (or reflected) sound thereof. To the contrary, the surround speakers 8 and 9 in FIG. 2 send their sound directly to a listener such that the listener may hear direct sound from the speakers 8 and 9.
Reference number 7 in FIGS. 1 and 2 denotes a screen that displays an image.
For installing surround speakers in such speaker system for a home theater according to the prior art, the surround speakers are disposed beside a listening position of a listener, and they are connected to an amplifier (not shown) or a receiver. That is, the surround speakers and the amplifier (or the receiver) are interconnected by a speaker line even though the surround speakers are far from the amplifier.
Therefore, for such an installation scheme of surround speakers, a long speaker line is required and such a long line is difficult to manage. Furthermore, the surround speakers are usually set at a height above the floor, which is cumbersome, and even-when they are laid on the floor, they consume floor space. In addition, installing separate surround speakers generates additional installation costs.
The information disclosed in this Background of the Invention section is only for enhancement of understanding of the background of the invention and should not be taken as an acknowledgement or any form of suggestion that this information forms the prior art that is already known in this country to a person of ordinary skill in the art.